Voice of the Voter: Budget surplus and debate debacle

PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - Democratic Political Analyst Ethan Strimling and Former State Representative Meredith Burgess Strang Burgess weigh in on the state budget surplus and the Gubernatorial candidates debate over how many debates to participate in.

Maine state budget numbers are in -- with the fiscal year ending on June 30th. The state finished the year with a surplus of $49.1 million. Half of that is from higher than expected individual income tax revenue. The rest from unspent balances from across the state. The LePage administration is claiming credit -- Democrats are saying not so fast..

Strimling says: LePage doesn't have much of a leg to stand on to claim the surplus is his when he didn't participate in any of the budget negotiations. And vetoed the final product.Burgess says the budget is a long term process. We're really reaping the benefits of the work that was done in the first two years of the LePage administration.

LePage and Michaud pull out of Bangor Chamber debate, saying four debates in October will be enough. Is it enough?

Burgess says from LePage's perspective there are so many requests, it's all about trying to be diverse while reaching everyone.

Strimling says four debates is plenty. Cutler is behind therefore he wants to create immediate press and as many opportunities to attack his opponents as possible.